@litofcolournet event i — characters of color @fantasysociety game iii — favorite dynamic ↳ fang runin and kitay chen, the poppy war

qara’s expression softened. “do you love him?” “yes,” rin said immeaditely. “more than anyone else in the world.”

Forehead kisses

Do it. Take what you want, it said. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you. Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you.

A good representation does not always mean a positive portrayal. After all, toxic cross-sex friendships exist in real life so why should they be excluded from the media? A favorite example of mine is the friendship between Fang Runin and Chen Kitay in R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War trilogy. In this essay, I will explore their tragic and toxic friendship as well as the anchor bond that highlights those aspects.

First of all, what is the anchor bond? In short, during the events of The Dragon Republic, Rin and Kitay chose to have their souls connected in such a way that they can feel each other’s pain and live as long as the other does. Most importantly, with Kitay’s consent, Rin can use Kitay as a conduit to call on the Phoenix God, overcome her mental block, and use the power she had been unable to access throughout the book.

How does it represent the toxicity of their friendship? First and foremost is the codependent nature of the bond. Rin is dependent on Kitay’s consent for her power while Kitay’s life depends on Rin’s survival. They are already morally codependent on each other with Rin seeking absolution and justification for her war crimes in Kitay and him seeking someone who would realize his vengeance against the invading forces. As stated in the epilogue, there is no world where Rin died and Kitay remained alive and this is unhealthy.

The second is exploitation and enablement. While Kitay’s consent is necessary for Rin to call on the Phoenix, it still means that Rin routinely rips into Kitay’s mind which is torturous for him. Yet Rin does this exploitative action almost mindlessly in a matter of weeks and Kitay almost always gives his permission. Outside the bond, Kitay was dragged along and never really had the chance to leave Rin as she descended into tyranny. Instead of continuing to challenge Rin’s heinous actions, the seemingly morally upright Kitay learns to forgive them and makes sure all Rin’s gambits succeed. Instead of pushing them apart, these instances only made them closer friends.

The only time Kitay denied Rin her power and she had to fight him for control, she could see that he would let her ruin them both and he would still love her. Their devotion parallels other toxic friendships in the work and, in the end, so did their tragedy. To give their country a fighting chance, Kitay allowed Rin to sacrifice herself, killing them both. It is as toxic as it is compellingly tragic and I am more than willing to consume media with a similar subplot.

i’ve personally seen two pretty best friends, and they’re inej and jesper

i gave up on this like halfway through but better finished than perfect, right?

happy new year everyone!!

@grishaverseonline‘s trick or treat event: for @pokharas 

“I… I’ll try.” It was the most he could offer right now. He took her hand in his, pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “It may take me a while before I can say those words.” His lips tilted in a grin. “And not just because I can’t speak Suli.”

they are stylish!! and they are matching!

based on this post by @nothewraith bc they are cute...

[image description: a digital drawing of jesper fahey and inej ghafa. jesper is a thin dark-skinned black boy with short twists wearing a teal striped vest and a red tie. he is looking happily at his earring with a jurda flower at the end. behind him, inej smiles at him hopefully. she's a thin brown-skinned south asian girl with a dark blue cape, and her long dark hair is down. she also wears an earring matching jesper's. end id]

In the Six of Crows duology, Kaz Brekker trusted only two of his fellow gang members the most: Inej Ghafa and Jesper Fahey. Of course, a cohesive thieving crew can only succeed so often at their heist when they work together. In this essay, I will talk about their friendship in the books and the influence of the third member of the group, Kaz Brekker, on their dynamic.

Like many other friendships in this segment, Inej and Jesper’s personalities and backgrounds complement each other. Jesper’s happy-go-lucky and flirtatious attitude stands in stark contrast to Inej’s more reserved nature. While Inej joined the Dregs to escape from an even worse situation, Jesper joined because he spiraled into a gambling addiction. However, they are both connected by their immigrant status, love for their parents, and having to deal with Kaz’s broody antics.

Their closeness and trust is notable. They banter as often as they confide in each other. A particular situation to analyze is when Inej was gravely injured because a rival gang used some information Jesper accidentally gave away to attack the crew. We can see Jesper’s platonic love for Inej in his guilt and how he visited Inej twice a day while in recovery and helped her walk around the ship they were in while Kaz took two days to gather the courage to have small talk. When Inej found out about Jesper’s accidental tip-off in Crooked Kingdom, after a good-natured jab at Jesper’s unexpectedly hilarious middle name, she forgave him and helped him learn to forgive himself. After all, it was an accident and not a malicious sabotage.

Kaz Brekker being the third person in the friendship does complicate their dynamics. There is romantic attraction blooming between Inej and Kaz though Kaz was not willing to be vulnerable. Jesper, on the other hand, wants Kaz’s appreciation and validation which Kaz was not too willing to give. While there was some jealousy from Jesper’s side for very justifiable reasons, they remain best friends and work well together as teammates in the heists they partake in.

I think Leigh Bardugo succeeded in making a strong cross-sex platonic pairing in Jesper and Inej. It is helped by the clear setups of their love interests so Inej and Jesper as a romantic pairing never really crossed the reader’s mind. They are partners-in-crime in every sense of the term.

What’s going on between you two? Friends since diapers. LEE JOO-MYUNG as JI SEUNG-WAN CHOI HYUN-WOOK as MOON JI-WOONG Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-ONE (2022) EP. 8 dir. Jung Ji-hyun

Admitting that I 100% watch twenty one twenty five only because of the diaper buddies and their friendship:

“The class president will now make her exit.”

“Your only weakness is having me as your friend. You’re perfect but I always put you into trouble. That really upsets me.” 

“I would’ve killed myself out of boredom if it wasn’t for you.”

In the Korean drama Twenty-Five, Twenty-One, the main cast is connected by their relationships, platonic and romantic. While there are several cross-sex friendships within the group, I will focus on the most prominent example. In this essay, I will discuss Moon Ji Woong and Ji Seung Wan’s friendship and its cliche-breaking nature.

The audience was immediately informed of their friendship once female lead, Na Hee Do, moved to their school. She caught a senior pressuring Ji Woong into dating her and then accusing him of dating Seung Wan. However, when Hee Do got to know the two it was clear that they were just friends and Ji Woong was attracted to Hee Do’s rival instead of Seung Wan. Throughout the drama, this stigma was brought up again because the two sincerely just want to hang out.

As the Ji Woong/Yu Rim romance grew, Ji Woong and Seung Wan’s friendship kept going strong. Seung Wan was always there whenever Ji Woong needed some reassurance. However, Seung Wan is not just a cardboard cutout supportive best friend. She felt pangs of jealousy because of the very understandable fear of losing a friend. Fortunately, it never crossed the threshold into seeing Yu Rim as a romantic rival.

The depth of Ji Woong and Seung Wan’s platonic devotion peaked in episode 12. To protest against a teacher’s physical abuse against Ji Woong, Seung Wan exposed the school and teacher through the radio. When the school threatened to expel her if she does not retract her statement, Seung Wan chose to quit school in protest. Ji Woong, feeiling guilty over what he perceives as dragging down Seung Wan with him, tried to stop her. In the end, Seung Wan left the school but not before telling Ji Woong how much she loved him as a friend and comforted him. The two remained friends into adulthood.

Why do I call this friendship cliche-breaking? The cliche of cross-sex friendships always becoming romantic, at least in the form of attraction if not a full-blown relationship, is a staple in South Korean dramas just as it is one in the West. In a more cliched drama, Seung Wan can be portrayed as the jilted childhood friend leg of a love triangle. After all, she and Ji Woong do have plenty of chemistry from their complementary personalities. Keeping this couple platonic is a non-traditional choice but the fandom welcomes it as a greatly appreciated breath of fresh air in the very amatonormative world of Korean dramas.

lil fanart from me :3

Boots of friendship

On a less serious note, I’m working on a size chart for most of the stormlight characters, so I can be more consistent within my own canon. On discord came the comment how ridiculous Kaladin‘s boots must have looked on Shallan, given their difference in height. Kal angrily folding his socks made my morning a very enjoyable one.

Kaladin: Shallan, I think I have feelings for you?

Shallan: I.. I think I have feelings for you too?

Narrator: The feeling was friendship. It was simply that neither had felt it before.

Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive is known for many things. One of them is the relationship between each member of its expansive cast which included many platonic relationships. In this essay, I will explore the friendship between Kaladin Stormblessed and Shallan Davar and the realistic journey that took them to that realization and its relations to the worldbuilding.

While Shallan and Kaladin hailed from very different backgrounds, they both grew up isolated and raised with a similar mindset regarding relations with people of another gender. Kaladin’s parents nudged him to befriend their lord’s daughter, hoping it will end with a marriage which can alleviate their marginalized state. Shallan, on the other hand, was sheltered due to her father’s controlling and abusive nature. She expected to never know a man outside her family other than the husband her father would have chosen for her. 

In the second book, Shallan and Kaladin finally interacted after having individual plots in the previous installment. Their first meeting ended with Shallan stealing Kaladin’s boots and they spent their second meeting loudly and creatively insulting each other in public. Even better, they opened up to each other when they were stuck together trying to survive in the chasms, which sparked attraction in them. It made sense why they were drawn to each other.

In Oathbringer, however, it was made clear that they make better friends than lovers. Shallan became passive agressive toward Kaladin once she found out he killed her brother and Kaladin does not really understand Shallan’s mental health problems. There were also instances where Shallan made classist remarks regarding Kaladin. They still make a good team but in the end, they made the choices that are better for them: Shallan choosing to marry Adolin and Kaladin being happily single and seeing Shallan as a sibling figure.

While they only barely spent a chapter together in Rhythm of War, and none of the alters fronting were Shallan, it is clear that they regard each other as good friends and their past attraction does not devalue their friendship. This can be seen (or rather heard) in the passages I have recited for this portfolio. I think their friendship is a very realistic depiction of cross-sex friendships and I am happy that this example involved the oft-seen confusion regarding attraction.

Lan and Moiraine 

‘You have taken nothing from me.’